2023 NHL Draft Preview: UConn could have as many as five players picked

The 2023 NHL Draft begins on Wednesday night from Nashville, where Matthew Wood could make history as the highest pick in UConn’s program history. While Wood is the headliner, the Huskies could have as many as five committed players taken in the later rounds as well.

Prospects

Matthew Wood

Position: Right wing
Height: 6-3
Weight: 190
Hometown: Nanaimo, British Columbia
NHL Central Scouting rank: 4
Consolidated ranking: 13

Wood is the top prospect in UConn’s history and in all likelihood will be the top pick to come through the program so far. We put together a full draft primer for Wood with mock drafts, player rankings, scouting reports, and more.

Beyond Wood, the other four potential draft picks will play at least one more year of junior hockey before joining the Huskies.

Kaden Shahan

Position: Forward
Height: 5-11
Weight: 165
Hometown: Everett, WA
NHL Central Scouting rank: 149
Most recent team: Sioux City Musketeers (USHL)

Regarded as a high-motor puck-hound who scores most of his goals around the net, Shahan notched 20 goals and 11 assists in 55 games with the Musketeers.

Ethan Gardula

Position: Forward
Height: 5-11
Weight: 174
Hometown: Princeton, MA
NHL Central Scouting rank: 170
Most recent team: Cushing Academy/Sioux City Musketeers (Prep/USHL)

Gardula made a big climb in the final NHL Central Scouting rankings, jumping 38 spots. After his 18-goal, 33-assist campaign at Cushing Academy ended, he joined Sioux City for nine games and collected two goals and three assists. In The Athletic’s seven-round mock draft, Gardula was the lone non-Wood UConn player included, going to the Montreal Canadiens in the sixth round.

Joe Odyniec

Position: Forward
Height: 6-2
Weight: 201
Hometown: Wilton, CT
NHL Central Scouting rank: 185
Most recent/next team: Avon Old Farms (Prep)

An Avon Old Farms graduate — where he was coached by current UConn assistant Mike Pereira — Odyniec is a hard-working two-way forward. In his final year at the prep level, he had 18 goals and 19 assists in 28 games while helping the Winged Beavers to their first New England title since 2010.

Kevin Fitzgerald

Position: Defenseman
Height: 5-10
Weight: 150
Hometown: Bath, Ontario
NHL Central Scouting rank: 204
Most recent/next team: Sioux City Musketeers (USHL)

The lone defenseman of the group, Fitzgerald had an opportunity to play major juniors but chose the college route instead. Then in the recruiting process, he picked UConn over a handful of other Hockey East programs. This past year, Fitzgerald had five assists in 54 games with the Musketeers.

UConn’s NHL Draft History

Ryan Segalla became the first UConn player taken in the NHL Entry Draft when the Pittsburgh Penguins used a fourth-round pick (119th overall) on him in 2013. Since then, 23 more Huskies have been selected (excluding incoming goaltender Ethan Haider, who was a fifth-round pick by the Nashville Predators back in 2019 but spent his first three seasons at Clarkson).

Jake Richard and Joey Muldowney are the most recent, having gone just four picks apart in the sixth round to the Buffalo Sabres and San Jose Sharks, respectively. UConn’s 2023-24 roster is set to feature seven NHL Draft picks: Matthew Wood (TBA), Nick Capone (Tampa Bay Lightning), Chase Bradley (Detroit Red Wings), Samu Salminen (New Jersey Devils), Arsenii Sergeev (Calgary Flames), Richard and Muldowney.

The Huskies have had one first-round pick (Tage Thompson), four second-rounders, two third-round selections, four picks each in rounds four through six, then five seventh-rounders.

By the numbers

5 — The most UConn players picked in a single draft is five. Back in 2020, Yan Kuznetsov (second round, 50th overall), Artem Shlaine (fifth round, 130th overall), Nick Capone (sixth round, 157th overall), Chase Bradley (seventh round, 203rd overall), and Ryan Tverberg (seventh round, 213th overall) were all selected.

10 — The Huskies have had at least one player selected in the last 10 drafts, dating back to 2013.

2 — No team has taken more than two Huskies. Buffalo Sabres, Calgary Flames, New Jersey Devils, Nashville Predators, Pittsburgh Penguins and St. Louis Blues have each picked a pair of UConn players.

14 — Of the NHL’s 32 franchises, 14 have never taken a Husky: Anaheim Ducks, Arizona Coyotes, Boston Bruins, Carolina Hurricanes, Chicago Blackhawks, Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, LA Kings, Montreal Canadiens, Seattle Kraken, Vancouver Canucks, Vegas Golden Knights, Winnipeg Jets and Washington Capitals.

How to watch

Date: Wednesday, June 28 (first round) | Thursday, June 29 (rounds 2-7)

Time: 7 p.m. ET | 11 a.m. ET

TV: ESPN, SN, TVAS | NHL Network, SN, TVAS

Location: Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, Tennessee